Thermochromatic ball-bearing massage instrument.



G. V. HUGO.

THERMOGHROMATIC BALL BEARING MASSAGE INSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1918.

1,283,777., Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

/J /4 /o" /2 V8 6 J] J /0 vi? A7 2/ X454. 20 2f w m //7 ran/0r GUSTAV'EVICTOR HUGO, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

THERMOCHfiOMATIC BALL-BEARING MASSAGE INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

Application filed January 21, 1918. Serial No. 212,863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUs'rAvE VICTOR HUGO, a citizen of tha UnitedStates, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles, State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in.Thermoohromatic Ball-Bearing Massage Instruments, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to therapeutic medical massage devices; and ithas as its object the provision of a massage instrument by the use ofwhich combined mechanical and medical therapeutic operations may be madein an eflicient manner.

My instrument, in its preferred and most full form, embodies incombination means for mechanical massage action and also means for heatand light action, with means provided for applying light of differentcolors to the body part being subjected to the action of'the instrument.The instrument also embodies certain mechanical arrangements andappliances which are .the following detailed description of aprehereinafter described. Its essential feature is the use of ballbearings and mechanical massaging elements; and when I speak of anyinstrument as combining the other features mentioned herein, I do notmean that such features must be used.

My invention will be best understood from ferred form of instrument,reference being had for this purpose to the accompanying drawings inwhich- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the instrument; Fig. 2 is a planthereof; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section showing theconstruction of the instrument; and Fig. 4 is a reduced side elevationof the complete instrument showing the straps by which it may bemanipulated if desired.

In the drawings I illustrate an instrument which, in its most full form,preferably includes a shell 10,- made in the form of a reflector, andhaving its inner surface polished or otherwise rendered reflective, andadapted to contain an electric lamp 11, mounted in socket 12. The socket12 is held in a handle socket 13 arranged with a clamping strap 14 inwhich is clamped a tube or nipple 1.5 extending from the shell 10 andformed solidly with the shell. One handle 16 of the .20 may be of anysize and configuration. In

the form of instrument shown the shell 10 is preferably circular;although it may be of any desired configuration. For instance, it may beelongated or oval. The base plate .20 may correspondingly be of any sizeand configuration; but it is preferably oval and of the shape shown inthe drawings. It may be made in any shape to suit any partic ular .use,for the limbs, the face, the body. In fact my device is capable ofrbeingmade for any and all massaging uses. On its under side and around itsperiphery there pro ects a plurality of ball bearings 25 mounted insockets or cages 26. sockets or cages may be of any suitableconstruction allowing the balls 25 torotate freely in all directions.-The balls 25 preferably project from the sockets a suitable distance sothat, when the. balls are in engagement with the body, the sockets willnot come into forcible contact with the body. They need not be furtherexplained here except that the balls are free to rotate when in contactwith the body. The balls form the actual mechanical massaging membersmassaging and pressure eflects without p ducing frictional effects.

The base plate 20 has a central preferably These and roll over the bodysurfaceyproducing upwardly extending-and surrounding flange 30. Shell 10carries a transparency 31 held" in a holder 32. at oneend and ma springclip 33 at the other end; this transparency When the device is assembledthe transparency 31 lies close to the edge of flange 30. Transparency 31may be formed of covering the aperture within'the flange 30.

any suitably colored glass; or of any material having any desiredspecific properties of transmitting any particular Kind of light or heatwaves; so that all of the light, or heat, which passes through theopening in the base plate may be colored or otherwise controlled in itscharacteristics thus being within the control of the operator who maysubstitute diflerent transparencies. The nature of the heat as well asthe light trapsmitted to the body through the flanged opening may thusbe varied by placing different transparencies in the holder. In fact, myinstrument may be adapted, in form and in control of the heat and lightto the condition of the patient and to the treatment it is desired toeffect.

I do not limit myself to the particular structures herein shown, variousvariations may be made within the scope of my invention as will beunderstood from this description. F or instance, more than a single lineof ball bearings may-be used.- I illustrate, for example, an extra ball25 mounted in a socket 26 within the outer line of balls 25.

Electric current is fed to the lamp 11 through the socket 12 and througha cord 35 which may extend out through the handle 16. When theinstrument is being applied by a masseur, the handles 16, 17 and 22 maybe used in applying the instrument, as is most convenient for anyparticular kind of operation. The handles 16 and 17 may be provided withlinks or other means, as shown at 36, to which straps 37 may beconnected; and by the use of these straps a person may manipulate theinstrument upon his own body, the straps being especially useful inapplying the instrument to the back. Within the variations of myinvention, the lamp maybe omitted and an instrument mav be made and usedwhich embodies the mechanical features of the invention, with itsvarious mechanical appurtenances, as set forth, using the instrument formechanical massaging purposes only.

My invention now having been made apparent by a description of apreferred form thereof, it will be cations and variationsmay be madeWithout departing from the invention; and I reserve to myself suchchanges and modifications as a may be made by persons skilled in the artor which may fall within the scope of the following claims.

lVhat-I claim is:

1. A massage instrument, embodying in combination a base plate, aplurality of phys ical massaging members mounted around the periphery ofsaid base plate and comprising freely revoluble balls adapted to bemanipulated in contact with the body;

seen that various modifia reflector shell removably mounted on the backside of the base plate, a pair of handles mounted upon said reflectorshell and extending in opposite directions parallel to the plane of thebase plate, an electric lamp mounted in the reflector shell, the baseplate having an opening opposite the lamp, and a removable transparencyheld over said opening.

2. A massage instrument, embodying in combination a base plate, aplurality of physical massaging members mounted around the periphery ofsaid base plate and comprising freely revoluble balls adapted to bemanipulated in contact with the body; a reflector shell removablymounted on the back side of the base plate, a pair of handles mountedupon said reflector shell and extending in opposite directions parallelto the plane of the base plate, an elec tric lamp mounted in thereflector shell, a third handle mounted upon the shell at its back sideand projecting perpendicularly to the plane of the base plate, the baseplate having an opening opposite the lamp and a removable transparencyheld over said openmg.

3. A massage instrument, comprising in combination a base plate, aplurality of mechanical massage elements mounted upon and projectingfrom the front face of said base plate, being arranged on the base platein a row around the periphery of the plate, and embodying freelyrevoluble balls adapted to be'brought into contact with the patientsbody, the plate having a central opening within the row of massagingmemhere; a reflector shell removably mounted upon the outside of thebase plate, a removable and replaceable chromatic transparency held inthe reflector over the opena ing in the base plate, a pair of handlesmounted upon said shell and projecting oppositely therefrom in a planeparallel to the plane of the base plate, a lamp socket carried by one ofsaid handles, a lamp mounted in said socket and projecting into thereflector shell and lying over the chro matic transparency and theopening in the base plate, means to supply electric current to said lampembodying wires extending through said handle, and a third handlemounted upon said reflector shell at its back and projectingperpendicularly to the plane of the base plate.

4. A massage instrument, embodying in combination a base plate with acentral opening, a plurality of physical massaging members mounted in aline around the periphery of the base plate around the opening thereinand adapted to be manipulated in contact with the body, a reflectorshell on the back side of the base plate over the openin and an electriclamp in the rehave hereunto subscribed by name this 11 fiector she I,from which lamp heat and day of January, 1918.

light are radiated through the opening onto GUSTAVE VICTOR HUGO. thatPortion of the body within the periph- Witnesses: 5 eral ine ofmassaging members. JOHN G. ORTH,

In witness that I claim the foregoing I V. BERINGER.

